Eco Warriors - Oceanic Campaigns

As a Sailing School and lovers of the sea, it as our duty to protect and respect the ocean.  This doesn't mean just paying lip service to half hearted domestic 'green' campaigns to give us an 'environmentally friendly' PR boost.  It means supporting those people on the front line, putting their lives at risk in the name of conservation, and confronting those who exploit our oceans unethically and unsustainably for commercial gain.

This page is currently under construction but will be dedicated to those individuals and organisations, (such as Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd) who fight to preserve the oceans we love (and need!) and the animals that live within them.  Make no mistake, the oceans, big as they may seem, are under severe threat.  Did you know for instance that:

• 90% of large predatory fish have disappeared from our oceans in the last 30 years, possibly due to over fishing.

• 20,000 dolphins are killed off the coast of Japan every year for aquariums and their meat, many in an inhumane slaughter in small coves around Taiji.

• Since 1986, when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium on all commercial whaling, three nations - Iceland, Norway, and Japan - have brutally slaughtered over 25,000 whales under the guise of scientific research and for commercial purposes.

• The larger whales, usually males, are primarily targeted in whale hunts.  In many species such as sperm whales, these make up no more than 5% of the population.  Therefore a 'sustainable hunting quota' of 5% could completely wipe out the species.. and nearly has.

• Toxin levels of man made pollutants (such as PCB's, mercury etc) are now at such high levels in the marine environment, that the milk of many marine mammals (where a lot of the toxins end up) would be classified as toxic waste.  Even eating the meat of these animals can lead to severe illness and birth defects in humans.

• Trawling for prawns or 'shrimps' nets a 90% biocatch.  Which means for every 1 prawn, another 9 bottom dwelling creatures are killed and thrown away as 'waste'.

• Only 1% of the oceans are protected in 'Marine Reserves' and even they aren't fully policed properly.. an incredible 99% of the worlds oceans are open to unrestricted exploitation.

If it bothers you as much as it does us, get active and visit:

http://www.seashepherd.org/

http://www.takepart.com/thecove

http://www.opsociety.org/about-ops.htm

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

More to come... suggestions welcome.